Tehran gets three-day holiday for Ali Khamenei funeral

TEHRAN - Irani announced on June 23 three days of public holidays in the capital Tehran for late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral ceremonies, state television reported.

“The farewell ceremony and prayers for the martyred leader’s body will be held on Saturday and Sunday, July 4th and 5th, in Tehran’s Grand Mosalla, and the funeral will be held on Monday, July 6th, and Tehran province will be off for these three days,” IRGC commander Hassan Hassanzadeh, in charge of the ceremonies, was quoted as saying.

Earlier, state media said Tehran would be on holiday on July 4 and 5, while the rest of the country will join it on July 6.

Tehran authorities expect an attendance of around 20 million.

The northern holy city of Qom will also host a tribute on July 7.

Ali Khamenei will be laid to rest on July 9 in the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, his birthplace.

These two cities will also observe public holidays.

Neighbouring Iraq has scheduled ceremonies for July 8.

The funeral was originally planned for March but was postponed due to the war in the Middle East, which was triggered by the US-Israeli attacks in February that killed Khamenei.

Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba succeeded his father as supreme leader in early March, becoming the third person to hold the position since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979.

Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded in the bombing that killed his father and other officials. He has not been seen in public since his appointment and communicates solely through official statements. AFP